In the US, private technology companies are given access to sensitive patient data to use artificial intelligence to review medical claims. Palantir is also involved through a participating service provider. While data protectionists warn of a lack of transparency and economic interests, a comparable infrastructure for the comprehensive use of health data is emerging in Europe. Germany is going particularly far in this regard: In the future, millions of electronic patient records will also be able to be used for research and development of artificial intelligence – without the prior express consent of those affected.
As the news portal Reclaim The Net reports, the state Medicare program WISeR has been running in six American states since January 2026. Private companies are given access to medical records to review applications for reimbursement of certain treatments. The remuneration system is particularly explosive: service providers can be paid for rejected applications, provided that these decisions are not later overturned. Among the companies involved is Zyter, which uses technology from the US data company Palantir. Among other things, medical records, medical notes and previous benefit decisions are processed. Some providers use such information to develop and improve their AI models. However, patients do not know comprehensively which private companies process their sensitive health data. It was only through proceedings under the Freedom of Information Act that essential contracts and documents became public.
Germany is now also creating the conditions for making medical data available on a large scale for research and AI development.
Since 2025, people with statutory health insurance have generally received an electronic patient record, unless they object. The Health Data Use Act also created the possibility of passing on pseudonymised information from these files to the Research Data Centre for Health. The transmission is to begin gradually from the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027. In contrast to explicit consent, patients must actively object themselves if they do not wish to use it. The Federal Ministry of Health confirms that companies in the healthcare industry can also use the data for research, innovation and artificial intelligence training under legal requirements. Free access to identifiable medical records is not permitted.
The development affects the entire European Union. The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is a system that will make medical information available across borders for research and technological development in the future. From March 2029, essential provisions on secondary use are to apply. In addition to universities and public institutions, private companies can also obtain approved access to health data. Data protection requirements, protected processing environments and objection options are planned.
Austria is also preparing for these regulations with its existing electronic health record ELGA.
With DigiSanté and the planned Swiss Health Data Space, Switzerland is also working on a more comprehensive use of medical information, explicitly also for private-sector research. Unlike Germany, however, Switzerland has not yet introduced a general automatic transfer of data from the electronic patient record for such purposes.
The decisive difference to the USA: In Europe, the focus has so far been primarily on the use of health data for research and medical innovation. A system in which private AI service providers are remunerated for rejected medical treatment is not proven by the European regulations. Nevertheless, the development raises considerable questions. Health information that was originally collected for the treatment of a patient can also contribute to the development of commercial AI systems in the future. The German government and the EU promise strict controls and data protection. But the experience from the USA in particular shows how important it is to disclose the companies involved, their financial interests and the actual use of the data.
What is presented today as progress for medical research could become a billion-dollar health data business in the long term.
Who will control which companies will benefit from this information in the future – and how much co-determination will be left for the patients, whose most intimate data form the basis of this development?
Sources
- Reclaim The Net, November 5, 2026 – How Medicare Records Become Training Data for Private AI
- U.S. Health Service CMS – WISeR Program
- Federal Ministry of Health – Research Data Centre on Health and AI Use
- Health Research Data Centre – Data from the electronic patient record
- European Commission – European Health Data Space
- Swiss Federal Office of Public Health – DigiSanté and secondary use
